First Great Awakening

The First Great Awakening was a series of Christian revivals that swept Britain and the Thirteen Colonies from the 1730s to 1740s, leading to the birth of American evangelicalism. Revivalists George Whitefield, John Wesley, and Jonathan Edwards preached about the "born again" experience, providential outpourings of the Holy Spirit, extemporaneous preaching, the need of salvation by Jesus, introspection, personal morality, and the assurance of salvation. Many of the leaders of the movement were uneducated itinerant preachers who encouraged religious enthusiasm, and Whitefield and Wesley's teachings led to the birth of Methodism and evangelical Anglicanism in England. The Congregationalist and Presbyterian churches split as the new Methodist and Baptist denominations gained strength, while Lutherans, Quakers, and non-Protestants were unaffected. In the American South, many African-American slaves were exposed to and converted to Christianity, as they were interested in teh teachings of universal salvation and having a share in heaven after their deaths.